D-handle



Feb.9, 1 932.

D- HANDLE Filed Feb. 19, 1929 2 e ts-sheet III r/l Invento W. A. READY Feb. 9, 1932.

D-HANDLE Filed Feb. 19, 1929 2 sneets-sneet 2 adx 68 w 4 m. Y .i M

Patented F eb. 9, 1932 warren sTArss WILLIAM A. READY, OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS D-I-IANDLE Application filed. February 19, 1929.. Serial No. 341,131.

My invention aims to provide improvements in D-handles for shovels, and the like.

Attention is hereby directed to my divisional application Serial No. 898,201, filed October 8, 1929.

In the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention Figure 1 is an elevation of the D-handle and part of a stale to which it is attached;

Fig. 2 includes a face view and section of one-half of the metal casing part before it is attached to a stale;

Fig. 3 is a view of the complete casing be fore it is attached to a stale and bent;

Fig. i is a view of the split end of a stale to which the metal casing is to be attached;

Fig. 5 is a section through the casing and stale before bending and shaping;

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the casing and stale and also the grip-piece, showing the two portions of the casing and stale spread to form a Y for forming a handle and permit insertion of the grip-piece between the grip-receiving sockets;

Fig. 7 is a section through the completed D-handle, showing the arrangement of the arts; p Fig. 8 is an enlarged section taken on the line 88 of Fig. 1 showing the manner of locking the grip-piece in the sockets to prevent rotation;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged section taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 10 is an enlarged section taken on the line 10-10 of Fig. 1, showing the manner in which the two metal arms are welded together for a portion of their length at one end.

Referring now to the form of my invention illustrated by the drawings, I will first describe the structure of my D-handle and then the method of securing the parts to gether.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 7 I have shown a D-handle which is a combination of wood and metal and provides a simple,

durable and attractive handle particularly adapted for rough, hard usage.

The metal part of the handle is in the form of a casing which is made up of two similar hollow, tubular portions or arms 1 pressed from sheet metal. The metal part is shown as Y-shaped and the two sections are secured together at the lower end for a portion of their length by welding the inwardly bent flange portions 2 (Figs. 2 and 10) of one tubular portion 1 with the cooperating flange portions of the other portion 1. The flanges of each arm lare bent to meet at the mner face of the arm (Fig. 2) where they may be welded together to provide a substantially D-shaped cross-section. A reinforcing strip i may be welded to the inner faces of the flanges 33, if necessary, to prevent them from pulling apart. The free ends of each arm 1 are rounded into cup-like portions to provide opposed gr p-receiving sockets 5 between which the grip-piece 6 is held by a rivet 7 passing through the sockets 5 and center of the grippiece 6. The rivet 7 is headed at both ends into countersunk portions 8, thereby to hold the metal arms 1 against the ends of the grippiece 6. The upper ends of the flanges 33 are bent inwardly at right angles to provide if-shaped means 9 at one side of each of the grlp-receiving sockets and the inwardly turned portions are again bent to rest against the inner sides of the front face of the arms where they are welded to strengthen the V- shaped portion. This V-shaped portion presents fiat surfaces which are located slightly inside of a circle, the diameter of the end 10 of the grip-piece 6 (Fig. 8), so that when the ends 10 of the grip-piece are forced into the sockets 5 the Wood is compressed, as clearly shown in Fig. 8. By thus flattening the ends of the grip-piece 6, It provide a locking means which prevents turning of the grip-piece 6. The wooden stale or stem 11 of the shovel or other implement is first prepared for receiving the metal part of the handle by turning down the end to provide a shoulder 12 against which the edges 13 of the arms 1 abut. Then the turned down portion is preferably divided by a saw-cut 14, one portion of which is narrow to receive the welded flange portions 2 and the remainder of which is slightly wider (Fig. 4) to receive the flanges 3-3 and reinforcing strip 4, as shown in Fig. 5.

Then the handle is completely assembled, the wooden prongs 15 of the stem are telescoped into the metal arms of the casing whereby the casing forms a connection between the wooden grip-piece 6 and the stem.

Any suitable method may be employed to fit the wooden prongs 15 of the stem 11 into the metal arms 1. For instance, I may employ substantially the same method as illustrated and described in the United States Letters Patent No. 1,477,742, issued to Thomas IV. Wright, December 18, 1923. However, I

. have invented a novel method which I have illustrated in Figs. 3 through 7, and which I will now describe.

Instead of pre-forming the metal part of the handle to the shape of a Y and then forcing the prongs 15 or the connecting portions of the stem into the Y, I prefer to leave the metal casing straight, so that the arms 1 are parallel and then insert the split portion of the stem into the casing, as shown in Fig. 5.

- Thereafter I employ suitably shaped die means (not shown) whereby the metal arms 2, together with thewooden prongs 15, are formed into substantially the shape shown in Fig. 6. Then the grip-piece is inserted in position and the upper ends of the Y are forced toward each other, thereby forcing the sockets 5 over the ends 10 of the grippiece 6. The rivet 7 is then secured in place and the D-handle is completed and ready for use.

The exact point at which the ends of the wooden prongs 15 terminate is not particularly important, but I prefer to have them terminate beyond the curved portions 16, so that the tubular arms will retain their proper shape as to cross-section during the forming operations.

My method of assembly is particularly simple and I have found that it is unnecessary to steam the stale before spreading the prongs. This is particularly advantageous because the wood has a tendency to shrink after steaming and, therefore, my method of bending the prongs 15, while they are dry, eliminates the possibility of looseness between the arms 2 and the prongs 15. Furthermore, I have found that the welded flange portions 2 prevent splitting of the wood at the end of the saw-cut 14 and elimi nate the necessity for the usual rivet at this point.

My handle is simple and durable and the method of assembly reduces the number of operations to a minimum, while at the same time providing a handle which is superior in quality and construction to any handle of this general type now known to me.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred construction of my device and a preferred method of assembly, I do not wish to be limited thereby, because the scope of my invention will be best understood by the following claims.

Claims.

1. A. D-handle construction for shovels, spades and the like comprising a sheet metal casing having diverging arms 1 hollow throughout their length, said arms 1 being of D-shaped cross-section and having portions 2 at their inner faces welded together adjacent one end of the casing to secure the arms together at that point, grip-receiving sockets 5 at the opposite ends of the arms, a grippiece 6 secured between the sockets 5, and a stale 11 having prongs 15 fitted into the hollow arms 1 and terminating below the lower edge of the grip-piece 6.

2. A D-handle construction for shovels, spades and the like comprising a sheet metal casing having diverging arms 1 hollow throughout their length, said arms 1 being of D-shaped cross-section and having portions 2 at their inner faces welded together adj acent one end of the casing to secure the arms together at that point, grip-receiving sockets 5 at the opposite ends of the arms, a grippiece 6 secured between the sockets 5, a stale 11 having prongs 15 fitted into the hollow arms 1 and terminating below the lower edge of the grip-piece 6, the fiat sides of the D- shaped arms 1 being formed by inwardly bent abutting flanges 3 welned together and strengthened by a metal strip 4 and V-shaped locking means 9 provided by extensions of the flanges 3 and adapted to flatten the ends of the grip-piece 6 to prevent turning of the grip-piece.

3. A D-handle construction for shovels, Spades and the like comprising a Y-shaped metal part having two similar portions joined together at one end of the Y-shaped part to provide a stale-receiving portion, said joined together portions having means provided partly by each of the two similar portions, said means being welded to provide a strong union of the parts to resist spreading of the metal part at the stale-receiving portion and a grip-piece secured between the spaced ends of the Y-shaped metal part.

4. A D-handle construction for shovels, spades and the like comprising a Y-shaped metal part having two similar sheet metal portions joined together for a portion of their lengths to provide a stale-receiving portion, each of said two similar portions having a portion contacting with a similar portion of the other and being welded together, said welded portions being located between the two similar sheet metal portions adjacent to the stale-receiving portion and a grippiece secured between the open ends of the Y-shaped metal part.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

WILLIAM A. READY. 

